African E-Business Takes Sun's "Quantum Leap"

[Johannesburg, SOUTH AFRICA] In announcing the launch of its first technical
development centre in Africa today, Sun Microsystems' Brian Perrins commented that
the development of e-services on the continent needs to undergo a "quantum leap" if
it is
to match the progress made by the e-business company in developed regions.

"We looked at how the IT industry in shaping the future of the region, and
realized that we needed a quantum leap in developing services if we are to match the lead that Sun
products have in today's e-commerce world, he explained."

The company hopes to address this lag by the establishment of the first training center
for Sun resellers in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region, the Midrand Technical
Development Centre.

This center, located north of Johannesburg, will be used to develop e-service skills in
Sun employees from a number of developing countries such as Kenya, Nigeria,
Morocco and even including Pakistan.

Perrins, MEA Regional Manager for Support Services, explains that the company will
be instituting a series of targets designed to develop the technical capabilities of the
companys indirect partners to install and maintain Sun products.
The company will use the existing Sun ServicePro program that structures the
training and provides funding for the necessary skills development.

The center will focus on achieving global consistency in service delivery, developing
Sun services in emerging economies to a standard equivalent to that in evidence in
developed countries.
Perrins explains that this will mean rethinking outdated ideas such as the concept of
'support', no longer a case of correcting a problem but rather a matter of proactively
preventing downtime.

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